Oracle Blog

Mark Dixon's quest to explore the world of Identity Management

Friday Nov 13, 2009

About a month ago, I received an invitation to join a new LinkedIn group, “Canadiam – IAM in Canada,” hosted by Mike Waddingham, whom I had never met in person. Mike had recently launched a new blog of the same name, and formed the LinkedIn group to complement his blog. Mike asserted:

"Identity and Access Management in Canada is different. American identity issues are complicated by their obsession with national security. British data and privacy laws are decidedly different than ours. Identity and Access Management (IAM) implementations vary greatly from country to country. We need a ‘conversation’ about IAM in Canada. Canadiam is that conversation.”

The call for a Canadian IAM conversation is certainly timely, and I think the blog/group name is great, reminiscent of the legendary Molson Beer commercial, "I am Canadian", which Mike embedded within the maiden post on the Canadiam blog and I include here for your enjoyment.

Back in 2000 when this commercial was first released, I was employed with Oracle and doing quite a bit of work in Canada, so watching it again brought back fond memories of choice experiences I have had with great friends north of the border.

Fast forward to yesterday morning. I had arrived in Vancouver to participate as a panelist in the CIO Magazine / Sun Microsystems breakfast event, “Identity Management - Pathway to Enterprise Agility.” Before joining my colleagues at the event, I took a moment to post a short message on the Canadiam LinkedIn group that I was in town and would participate in a similar event in Toronto next Tuesday.

We had a great session, moderated by John Pickett, VP & Community Advocate at IT World Canada. Michelle Dennedy and I fielded questions about Identity Management, Privacy, Security and Cloud computing from John and members of the audience. After the session, a man from the rear of the room, who had offered several insightful comments and excellent questions, came forward to introduce himself. It was none other than Mike Waddingham himself! I hadn’t recognized him from his LinkedIn photo and certainly didn’t expect him to be in attendance. I had assumed he lived in the Toronto area. But Mike had travelled to Vancouver from his home base in Edmonton to attend the event.

I never cease to be amazed at the surprise personal encounters I have at almost professional gathering I attend, where I meet people in person for the first time after connecting previously on line. The magic of online interaction, while valuable and delightful in and of itself, always seems to be amplified by face-to-face interaction.

So, Mike and all you Canadiams, thanks for the privilege of being numbered among you as an honorary Canadian. Thanks for giving me another treasured “social networking moment.” I look forward to participating further in the Canadian IAM discussion.

Friday Dec 07, 2007

This afternoon, I received the following question from a colleague, Michael Goodman, a highly skilled and broadly respected sales professional, via "LinkedIn Answers:"

"With all the social media available, including linked in, Blogs, twitter, plaxo, second life, et al, what is the best way to utilize all this stuff, stay ahead of the techno-bleeding edge, and really, just find another customer to tell my story to?

"I can't keep up with all the social media, web 2.0 marketing movement. Really, all I want to do is find the next customer. I am hoping someone has figured out the magical answer to taking advantage of technology and simply find new people interested in what I have to offer. Anyone?"

The answers offered were as interesting to the question. It appears that this question struck a nerve, prompting some long, thought provoking answers.

"So, the best way to "utilize this stuff" [technologically] is to integrate your efforts among some 13-20 different services (don't be scared by the number, the key is INTEGRATION - touch one, others update ... get the picture?).

"However, technology aside, the best way to utilize this stuff [strategically]is to learn to become transparent. To share yourself and your expertise through case studies and testimonials where others can observe you doing for others - this "story telling" will go a long way to attracting the right prospects to you!"

I think the key is that the answer is not just technology. Social networks may be enabled by technology, but when it comes right down to it, the folks that "network" are humans, who must ultimately sell themselves to accomplish their goals.

About

Discovering Identity was founded on blogs.sun.com in May 2005 as a means of documenting my exploration of the field of Identity and Access Management. In February, 2010, I switched to hosting the blog at DiscoveringIdentity.com. In March 2012, I began posting Oracle-related information in both places.